1543 lines
75 KiB
Plaintext
1543 lines
75 KiB
Plaintext
Volume 7, Number 44 29 October 1990
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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| / \ |
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| /|oo \ |
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| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
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| _`@/_ \ _ |
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| FidoNet (r) | | \ \\ |
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| International BBS Network | (*) | \ )) |
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| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
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| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
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| (jm) |
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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Editor in Chief: Vince Perriello
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Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell
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Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
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Copyright 1990, Fido Software. All rights reserved. Duplication
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and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only.
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For use in other circumstances, please contact Fido Software.
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FidoNews is published weekly by the System Operators of the
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FidoNet (r) International BBS Network. It is a compilation of
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individual articles contributed by their authors or authorized
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agents of the authors. The contribution of articles to this
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compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors.
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You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
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FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file
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ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1:1/1. 1:1/1 is a Continuous
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Mail system, available for network mail 24 hours a day.
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Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
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Fido Software, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are
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used with permission.
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Opinions expressed in FidoNews articles are those of the authors
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and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of Fido Software.
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Most articles are unsolicited. Our policy is to publish every
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responsible submission received.
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Table of Contents
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1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
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From underneath the Editor's Desk ........................ 1
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2. ARTICLES ................................................. 3
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Freedom and Elections .................................... 3
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The ANSI Club ............................................ 5
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ECHOPOL AGAIN?? -- And Sysops Still don't get a vote! .... 8
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Response to comments in FidoNews 7-43 .................... 9
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A Word From Two Guys ..................................... 11
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Universal Mayhem Version 2.0 is ready .................... 13
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All Quiet on the BBS Front ............................... 17
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RPGA Conference .......................................... 19
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And more!
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FidoNews 7-44 Page 1 29 Oct 1990
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=================================================================
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EDITORIAL
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=================================================================
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What a great time we're having here.
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I am really sorry. Because I made one of the all-time stupid
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mistakes a few weeks back. I said I wanted people to talk about
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what was in FidoNews instead of what it was (archived) in. Big
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boo-boo. Is it too late to get back to the topic of archivers?
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We published an article a few weeks back about (fill in
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controversial topic here -- FICTH for short) and the merry
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mixups that occur when FICTH and politics collide in the good
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ole U S of A. Too bad people always see FICTH when there's a
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REAL lesson to be learned. Almost nobody got the message. So now
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we've got people sending us articles about how wrong we were to
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allow an article about FICTH and how Hitler was a nice guy
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compared to those FICTH types, and others who want to talk about
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other FICTH's.
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I'm even getting submissions from people who seem intent on
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proving I'll even publish output from their random gibberish
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generator (take impaired minds, add gin and shake liberally).
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Wow. Impressive. I bet that one will go down in the history
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books. Freud overlooked it entirely. I'm so honored to have been
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part of such an experiment. (BTW, the article makes more sense
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after you run it through JIVE. Try it and see)
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Give me a break, folks. Has the average IQ of FidoNet become the
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reciprocal (Duh, Gee, Tennessee. What's a reciprocal?) of the
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number of nodes in the net?
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I sure hope not. Because while you were playing your collective
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fiddles, George Peace happened to notice that we in FidoNet
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already had our very own FICTH. He even tried to bring it to your
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attention by inflicting it on you.
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Yes, I mean EchoPol. For those of you who were there at the time
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it was either conceived or misconceived, flame-hardened, voted
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on, approved by some metric and disqualified by some other
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metric -- how could you miss the obvious parallels with the
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FICTH article?
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I think George implemented it to force a long overdue revisit to
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the issues the original EchoPol addressed, failed to address, or
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created on its own. He appears to be genuinely interested in
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seeing it fixed -- if only people would start talking about
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EchoPol, instead of either not noticing it, or spending all
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their time talking about what a fascist he was for implementing
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it. Funny. The original EchoPol situation was so much like that
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other FICTH article. The current one is even better.
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FidoNews 7-44 Page 2 29 Oct 1990
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By way of illustration, consider an email equivalent of the
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(unnecessarily) graphic FICTH description which Jack Decker will
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bestow on you later in this issue. Simple scenario. Day 1:
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Moderator forms echo. Day N: Echo is really popular. Moderator
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arranges to have it placed on the backbone. Day N+1: New
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moderator. Old one wasn't well liked by *EC's. Yeah, sure the
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*EC's aren't bad guys (to coin a phrase, some of my best friends
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are *EC's). But what if they WERE bad guys? Is there anything in
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EchoPol that says in the event the *EC's happen to BE bad guys,
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they can't do that?
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George says that's one of the areas he wants to see fixed. Good.
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It's one of the areas that most concerns me. But who is handling
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this fixing (or is it FICTHing)? Where are the "we need to look
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at this problem with EchoPol" postings? This discussion has thus
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far consisted of a soliloquy by George. And random noise from a
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few people who prefer to bash George's brownshirt tactics rather
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than devoting time to trying to set things straight. Another
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FICTH is brewing. I can detect the stench from here.
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In the meantime, so many of you guys seem to keep missing the
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forest for the FICTH trees. Too bad. I bet you even think that
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the FICTH that just ended in Washington was some kind of victory
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for whoever you happen to think is cool down there.
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Wake up and smell the coffee. And stop looking at the world
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through sh*t-colored glasses.
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That's why what you see is an abortion.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 7-44 Page 3 29 Oct 1990
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=================================================================
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ARTICLES
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=================================================================
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Richard Bash
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FidoNet 1:161/357
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Your Freedom and the November Elections
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This nation is again turning toward its election period and that
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should cause us to turn back the dusty pages of our history books
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and see from whence we came.
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As a former international airline pilot, I have had the privilege
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of visiting over 108 countries and this great nation is
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unsurpassed in the overall freedom available to its citizens.
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Today you and I demonstrate those freedoms in such mundane ways
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as our BBSing, enjoying the free exchange of information across
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the breadth of this wonderful country. Ironically, this comes at
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a time with the Soviet bloc is crumbling, crumbling because it
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was too totalitarian and its economy was collapsing.
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But we sometimes need to be reminded that the United States of
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America was founded with a revolution, a revolution precipitated
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by a tyrannical government who was callous towards its colony's
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citizens. That revolution was bathed in blood and sparked at
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Concord Bridge in Massachusetts over 200 years ago. The issue
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that set it off was firearms, a topic that today is again drawing
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its attention to the citizens of America.
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Over the past 20 years, more than any other period in this
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country's history, there have been many blatant and often
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successful attempts to ban classes of firearms or specific
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firearms from the hands of the American public. Witness the
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insanity of the bans recently passed in California, New Jersey
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and Denver, Colorado.
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The sad truth is that the Founding Fathers of the nation realized
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that without firearms there can be no freedom. The early
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documents relating to the formation of this nation are replete
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with such references.
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There have even been moves afoot, reported in FidoNews and
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elsewhere, of attempts to curb the free exchange of information
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typified by BBS use and networks such as Fido.
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The past 20 years have seen the Democratic Party, a Party to
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which I belong, turn its back on the privileges of firearm
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ownership in this United States. This is the same Democratic
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Party that is involved, if not wholly then in magnificent part,
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in the S&L multibillion dollar scandal. This is the same
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Democratic Party that cannot reach a national budget. This is the
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same Democratic Party that tried unsuccessfully to infringe upon
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the bulletin boards.
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FidoNews 7-44 Page 4 29 Oct 1990
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Sadly, my life has let me see things that would make most people
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shudder and become sick, both physically and mentally. I have
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lived under socialist and dictatorial governments in foreign
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countries and those governments excelled at doing two things:
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restricting firearms and information.
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I ask that this November you be sure to go to the polls and vote
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for the candidate of your choice. But consider the previous
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paragraph and consider why this November we need Operation
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D.R.E.D.: Don't Re-Elect Democrats. The "Party of the People," as
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the Democratic Party likes to be called, has become ripe with
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corruption, far exceeding the aspirations of even the Republican
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Administration under Richard Nixon! Thus, I beg you to vote
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against the candidates of the Democratic Party to send them a
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message, a message that only you, the voter. can send: the
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fundamental firearm privileges, the tax dollars of the citizens
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of America and our BBS informational exchange medium are not to
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be dallied with. Your vote against all Democratic candidates will
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send that message, a message they will feel and one they will
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heed.
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Remember, this really is your country and, in the final analysis,
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you do get the government you deserve. The Democratic Party has
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been in charge of Congress for decades and is bankrupting this
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nation, supporting every move to eliminate arms from its populace
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and costing thousands of jobs to be lost to foreign controlled
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corporations. Perceived freedom without firearms in the
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possession of the American citizenry to enforce that freedom is
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hollow indeed and will blow away as readily as a dried Fall leaf.
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Vote. Vote wrong if you must, but at least vote this November!
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Across the borders of Americas and the oceans that surround us,
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people are literally dying because they cannot vote. Thank you
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for your attention.
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Richard Bash
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Combat Arms BBS SysOp
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 7-44 Page 5 29 Oct 1990
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ANSI File Distribution Network (*.ANS, *.GBS, *.ASC, etc.)
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Open to all Ansi.Sys Users and lovers of those creative and
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imaginative Ansi Pictures and Screens
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The earliest ANSI screen I remember owning a copy of was the
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Christmas scene with the train that went around the tree and
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tooted. I recently learned (years later) that a close friend
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of mine drew that and other ANSI screens long before the
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local FidoNet Chapter was ever present here in Nashville, TN.
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Other early fond memories are the ANSI screens of my favorite
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BBSs (gee I wish I had screen captured some of them).
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Here in Nashville when we learned about TICK by Barry Geller it
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was well received. We have had a local "Screens" File echo for
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well over a year and a half now. About 600 ANSI screens and well
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over 3 Megs of *good* screens have passed through here.
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Including, at one point, Violet Stymacks entire screen
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collection (well over a Meg Unzipped) which a friend file
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requested direct from the Rhinoceros Kitchen.
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As member of 7 other File Distribution Networks SDS/SDN/DDS/PDN/
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DVNet/WIN*Net/*CADNet*, It Dawned on me that one of my favorite
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topics wasn't covered anywhere, So about 6 months ago an idea
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started forming. Time has been a bit of a constraint and I'd be
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willing to bet quite a few other SysOps run into that one also.
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I originally undertook co-coordinator and Tech help for
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*CADNet*, which now has come unto its own. Links are in place
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and I have some time to devote. I choose to Coordinate the
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forming and start up of the ANSI Club, but hopefully the artists
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will actually run the Network.
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How big do I hope it becomes? I would like to see as many links
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established before actual startup (Approx Nov 1st). As many
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local Nets, Regions, Zones, and Networks to be included as we
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can stand. And *I* can use all the friends I can get <smile>
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...know what I mean <Grin>. InFact, courtesy of the GT<>Fido
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Bridge Ed Cavender runs @ FidoNet 1:116/36 and GT Net 071/001,
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I am inviting the entire GT Network to join in the fun. Ed has
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been working on a version of File Echo utility for GT Net for
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about a year now. In a voice conversation I was assured it is
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in it's early "working" stages. Ed does say he will need to do
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a minimum of manual intervention (darn Moths).
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GT Net has at least 3 well established ANSI Forums of which are
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all InterNational. Their excellent ANSI Screens and Network wide
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participation well establish fun as an endeavor. In all
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instances I have found GT Network SysOps to be Courteous and
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very welcoming. And really these folks Know how to have fun. And
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we are talking fun! Though our technologies are slightly
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different I believe we can have and outstanding relationship
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and have everything to gain in both Networks.
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FidoNews 7-44 Page 6 29 Oct 1990
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I am already intending to "Break some Rules" with the Echo
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conferences available through the ANSI Club. The conferences
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will allow posts with "Any" of the ASCII character set of the
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IBM and compatibles "including" the extended character set. We
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of course may Break something ...and will find out what we have
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to exclude if we do <grin>. I have been recieving GT Conferences
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in FidoNet format for about two years now and they use these
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characters and haven't broke nuffin' over here yet. And more so,
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QEDIT which I have noticed IS avaliable on most of the FidoNet
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Backbone and widely participated in - IS a GT Echo conference.
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Our ANSI Club Conferences will include the *Best* of ANSI
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Graphics, which of course will be allowed in the Echo.
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Whether you run an ANSI door, have an online Art gallery,
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Collect ANSI Screens, are just plain fascinated by the
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creativity of the pallet, maybe like to create and share
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them yourself, or just wanna play. Online or off, I'd bet
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our File Distribution Network is made for you.
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The ANSI Club
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ANSI Art Files Distribution Network
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Echo Conferences:
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ANSI_ARTWORK
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purpose: to allow ANSI art work displayed as messages
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(optional) may be carried & read with offline editor
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or *if* you are lucky enough that your Msg base
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will display Ansi carried online.
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priviledge level: All
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ANSI_USER
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purpose: talk about using ANSI Drawing and Display Programs
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priviledge level: All
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ANSI_SYSOP
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purpose: ChitChat and keeping abreast of Distribution Network
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Buddies
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priviledge level: Ansi Club SysOp only
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Distribution File Echoes:
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If you are new to file distribution Networks you will need the
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File Echo Program Tick (latest version Tick200.Lzh). Many
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FidoNet Systems now run Raid, Think of it as an Areafix for
|
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File Echoes. Go ahead and link in and first set up the Echo
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Conferences and if you run into any confusion or trouble with
|
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FidoNews 7-44 Page 7 29 Oct 1990
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any new software additions we can work it out in the ANSI_SYSOP
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echo conference.
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On the GT Net side Ed can help you with his version of File
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Echo Utility ..He claims there are a few mites yet, but his
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vigilance and determination shall soon overcome. In the mean-
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time Think of this as new Beta Software.
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ANSI_ART - ANSI display files (naming Convention *.ans *.gbs)
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Please No .Exe or .Com Files.
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ANSI_SYS - ANSI drawing, animation, view, & display Programs
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ANSI_NEW - Newsletters, Tutorial, Textfiles, Etc
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Interested folks by Zone & Region and Network:
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FidoNet
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Zone 1
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Region 11 Stan Waldrup 2200/141 Builders Workshop
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Region 13 Tom Hendricks 266/61 Avi-Technic
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Region 17 Larry James 105/72 Big Larry's RBBS-PC (V32)
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||
Sue Coleman 343/105 Crystal Cavern
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||
Region 18 Patrick Curry 3621/425 Shoes CPU
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Ed Cavender 116/36 Control Systems GT<>Fido
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Michele Hamilton 369/21 Sunshine PCBoard
|
||
Kevin 116/29 the Dawg Byte
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Region 19 Dean Lachan 124/4115 Southern Crossroads
|
||
Zone 2
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Region 25 Andrew Sporton 251/29 Doughnut City BBS
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GT Network
|
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Hubs please contact Ed Cavender, Control Systems 071/001 for
|
||
linkups.
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||
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If you would like to participate and join in the Fun, Please let
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me know, we shall try our best to get you linked in. Also if you
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would like to Hub for the Network ..let me know. Send in enough
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||
info about yourself and your system to give us a good idea of
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who our new friends are.
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KevFun 1:116/29 14.4 HST
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 7-44 Page 8 29 Oct 1990
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Jim Deputy
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1:103/158
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ECHO POLICY AGAIN??
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Today, just by accident I have found that there is a move to
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resurect ECHOPOL 1, and make it effective as of Oct. 22. Today
|
||
is Oct. 24. It was just by a chance comment that I saw in one
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of the regional sysop echos that I found out about it. Had I not
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seen it, I would not have even been aware of it.
|
||
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Granted, I may be a little out of touch with FidoNet, FidoNews is
|
||
not readily available in our network (My NC only had up to
|
||
Fnews73 something). For well over two years we have been given
|
||
to understand that any elections, or policy changes, and things
|
||
of that nature would always be announced in the PROLOG of the
|
||
NODELIST! And in fact have been hassled by some of the *C's for
|
||
not keeping up with the info in the Nodelist. Yet, for well over
|
||
two months the Prolog has only said "No news is good news." At
|
||
least two NC's that I contacted also said..."there wasn't
|
||
anything in the Nodelist on it." And the comments went downhill
|
||
from there.
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||
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I contacted 161/7 and picked up 740-743, and low and behold, not
|
||
only does it look like we are going to be coming up with a repeat
|
||
of EchoPol, but also some stuff is being discussed about a new
|
||
FidoNet Policy.
|
||
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I've noticed that the *EC and *C structure has again stacked the
|
||
deck in their favor on voting for the New Echo Policy.
|
||
Especially since no grunt sysop has a right to vote. I also
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note, that no moderator has any rights to vote. In fact,
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basically the moderators rights are stripped from them. And the
|
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Echo can be stolen from them by a vote of the *EC's.
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There is also no provision in this policy for those of us who do
|
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moderate backbone echos to remove them from the backbone if we
|
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choose not to go along with this dictatorial edict. We can only
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leave them there, and hope that the *EC Network doesn't decide to
|
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steal our work.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 7-44 Page 9 29 Oct 1990
|
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|
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|
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Jack Decker
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1:154/8
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|
||
RESPONSE TO COMMENTS IN FIDONEWS 7-43
|
||
|
||
I've just finished reading the articles by David Rice and Randy
|
||
Edwards in FidoNews 7-43. Because I am unabashedly pro-life,
|
||
my first inclination is to write a scathing article denouncing
|
||
the pro-murder-of-the-unborn side (I refuse to call it
|
||
pro-choice because the unborn baby really has NO choice in the
|
||
matter). However, by doing so, I'd be just as guilty of
|
||
placing irrelevant material in FidoNews as the others have
|
||
been.
|
||
|
||
I happen to disagree with our esteemed editor AND both of the
|
||
above-named respondents for one reason and one reason only:
|
||
Those in the *C structure are REQUIRED by Policy4 to obtain
|
||
FidoNews, and to make it available to those under them. If
|
||
FidoNews is going to promote a leftist political agenda, then I
|
||
feel that coordinators who don't wish to further that agenda
|
||
should not be forced to carry FidoNews.
|
||
|
||
I have no problem with folks publishing articles that promote
|
||
their particular political viewpoints. Randy Edwards, bless
|
||
his misguided heart, frequently publishes a collection of
|
||
left-leaning articles in his Progressive News, which is
|
||
distributed via the Software Distribution System. But no one,
|
||
by virtue of being a Fidonet coordinator, is forced to carry
|
||
that publication or to make it available to every node in their
|
||
Zone/Region/Net. I could start an ultra-conservative
|
||
electronic publication and (hopefully) distribute it the same
|
||
way, but I would not expect or even desire that anyone who
|
||
strongly disagrees with my views be forced to carry it. Can
|
||
the liberals say the same? It seems to me that it is usually
|
||
those on the left who insist on promoting their viewpoints in
|
||
inappropriate forums, and on forcing others to hear their views
|
||
whether they want to or not.
|
||
|
||
FidoNews (along with Policy and the Nodelist) is referred to in
|
||
Policy as "the glue that holds us together." However, if it
|
||
becomes a forum where the left-wing and right-wing forces slug
|
||
it out each week, it will be the knife that cuts us apart
|
||
instead - particular if some coordinators feel compelled to
|
||
resign rather than help promote viewpoints that they strongly
|
||
disagree with. I'm still waiting to see what happens when some
|
||
supporter of the Ku Klux Klan, or some neo-Nazi starts
|
||
submitting articles to Fidonews on a regular basis. We'll see
|
||
how "open-minded" folks are then.
|
||
|
||
Yes, I could post articles telling you all about what REALLY
|
||
happens in the abortionist's office, or about those women who
|
||
feel so victimized by a "legal" abortion experience that they
|
||
have committed suicide, or required extensive counseling, or
|
||
have sued their abortionists. I could post articles about the
|
||
development of the unborn and what really happens to an unborn
|
||
baby during an abortion. The data is out there and there's no
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 10 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
shortage of it. Why do I have the feeling that if I had done
|
||
that in the past, some of the very people who are
|
||
congratulating the editor now would instead be screaming about
|
||
the inclusion of those types of articles?
|
||
|
||
(It's worth noting, by the way, that I have written netmail
|
||
messages to Randy Edwards rebutting some of the articles in his
|
||
Progressive News. So far, he's not seen fit to publish even so
|
||
much as one word from any of them. I guess that he doesn't
|
||
feel the need to live up to the same standards that he'd impose
|
||
on the FidoNews editor).
|
||
|
||
The bottom line is, if FidoNews is going to print anything that
|
||
comes in (strictly speaking, that isn't true either - I have
|
||
sent in articles in the past that haven't been printed, though
|
||
I think I know why in each case), and if they are not going to
|
||
try to restrict the content to that which has at least
|
||
SOMETHING to do with communications or computers, then I feel
|
||
that carriage by the coordinator structure should be made
|
||
optional. It is not fair to require any sysop to help promote
|
||
a viewpoint that he or she strongly disagrees with. Distribute
|
||
FidoNews via the SDS, along with all the other special-interest
|
||
electronic newsletters currently carried there.
|
||
|
||
By the way, are there any other conservatives on this network?
|
||
I was only half-joking about the need for a conservative
|
||
electronic newsletter (the "ultra-" was the half I was joking
|
||
about). Send me netmail if you're interested.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 11 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
Anonymous,
|
||
Somewhere in Net 269
|
||
|
||
THOUGHTS ON RECENT FIDONEWSES AND OTHER SEMI-RELATED MATTERS
|
||
|
||
Excerpted from a chat on 10-28-90 the participants
|
||
of which were not all there. Note that all carriage
|
||
returns have been removed so you can not tell who
|
||
is typing. This is for our own good and also adds
|
||
to the pieces aesthetic value. (Heh.)
|
||
|
||
Mhm. Boy has FNews been getting ridiculous. 741 in particular.
|
||
There have been like 0 fido related articles in the past 4 issues
|
||
I KNOW.. half of one of them was taken, no more than half, 3/4
|
||
of one was taken up by some insane guy from a magazine. Damn
|
||
enviro articles too! Arhghh. But that one was the pinnacle of
|
||
ridiculousness. I can understand an eco article once in a while
|
||
but the FNews was 80,000 bytes!!! How much is that doggie in the
|
||
window? haha You know, if we wrote an article, Vince would most
|
||
likely publish it. He publishes anything. No matter what.
|
||
Seriously, let's do something moronic and totally sarcastic...
|
||
"Why Fidonews Has 'Gone to the Dogs'" HAHAHAHAHAH. "We love to
|
||
wake up each monday morning to read the latest fidonews, which,
|
||
by this week, has grown to nearly the size of the New York
|
||
Times"... hea! yeah.. Let's rename it. "The Forum for Voluble
|
||
Eco-Expounders, Personal- attack Cravers, and Pro-Abortion
|
||
Maniacs." Would you help me write something? sure.. Woudl you
|
||
write something? hm.. ok. Tap out some ideas lazily in chat. I
|
||
have capture on and can easily piece something coherent together
|
||
from it like I did with your stupid joke. Harhar.. Well to
|
||
start off the tone should be 100% Barry. Much satire, sarcasm,
|
||
and tongue in cheek style. Mhm, make some statements about the
|
||
state of FNews I like that first one we love... new york times,
|
||
except it should be a dave-barry sounding newspaper like which by
|
||
this week will probably have grown to nearly the size of the new
|
||
testament... hehe ha. OK, how about the ridiculous article in
|
||
FNews741 which took up 75% of the newsletter? Yes we should do
|
||
something about that... something like "We would also like to
|
||
thank the author of that excellent, patriotic article, that has
|
||
swayed our opinions so much.." Ha- maybe do a parody of part of
|
||
it. This is kinda funny as it is.. Just a jumbled mess of
|
||
thoughts... I wonder if he would publish that as is? "The
|
||
following was excerpted from a chat on 10-28-90 of which the
|
||
participants were not all there." Hahaehea yeah.. and compact!
|
||
won't use up too much space in FNews! Could save people loads of
|
||
cash. Duherr. But seriously... Can you make up an article in
|
||
time for next week's FNews? why not use this? Unrestrained
|
||
weirdness! I just made a capture file of that.. How about put a
|
||
title like "Uncensored, from a chat with the sysop" or "A chat
|
||
with the sysop" or somthing? on it then just UL it as is, but
|
||
people are gonna think we are morons for doing this.... fix the
|
||
typos too haehe, ok.. I'll fix everything. We've gotta get a
|
||
copy of ARTSPEC. What is that? Specifications for article
|
||
submissions.. format and stuff. Now we're gonna submit this
|
||
anonymously? or do we want to be embarrassed? It doesn't matter
|
||
it's better than all this 80,000 bytes of environment crap.. I
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 12 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
thought the purpose of fidonews was to talk about fido.. haha!
|
||
haha! well if "Kwityer Bychin" can do it, we can have a
|
||
nom-de-plume too! Naw, I think we'll have to sign it:
|
||
|
||
Signed,
|
||
Anonymous Sysop & Cosysop,
|
||
Net 269
|
||
|
||
We will also have to say Erik and Peter in there somehwere,
|
||
mention our names so people in 269 recognize who it is from, heheh
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 13 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
Universal Mayhem Version 2.0 is ready
|
||
Fredric Rice
|
||
1:102/901.0
|
||
|
||
It's been over two years since the first release of Universal
|
||
Mayhem yet we are just entering the second general release. In
|
||
these past two years, the project has been shaped and re-worked
|
||
according to requests (demands also) by SysOps and users alike.
|
||
The SysOps demanded tighter disk file information compressions
|
||
and the users demanded fun features and greater speed.
|
||
|
||
At the risk of sounding my own horn, I think I have come close
|
||
to what the Mayhem sites have requested. There are still bugs
|
||
in the code; compatibility problems within the FidoNet software
|
||
still need to be ironed out -- but these problems are quirks
|
||
that can be ignored.
|
||
|
||
The vast majority of FidoNet SysOps have never encountered the
|
||
Universal Mayhem project so a little background on the game may
|
||
be needed:
|
||
|
||
Universal Mayhem is a doors game that is basically economically
|
||
oriented in the domain of a universe. There are, in fact,
|
||
several universes in the game, each accessible through gateways
|
||
at various points.
|
||
|
||
Space ships are commanded to perform commerce loops between the
|
||
planets to buy and sell goods to raise enough credits with
|
||
which to purchase planets. Alliances may be forged between the
|
||
captains of the ships or bitter enemies may decide to wage a
|
||
horrible war; perhaps a war where the ships alliances are duty
|
||
bound to assist in.
|
||
|
||
There are many features: Sector scanning for pirates, planets,
|
||
stars, black holes, mines, slaver death weapons, attack sleds,
|
||
and a variety of other objects. Short leave for the crew. Taxes
|
||
to be paid to the Galactic Police or to your ship if other
|
||
captains trade at your planets. Automation script files which
|
||
are used to automate ships according to the captains wishes
|
||
when ships are not currently active. Remote robot sensors
|
||
which can be attaches to enemy ships, or friends if you don't
|
||
trust them. Buy plague from the pirates and seed an enemy ships
|
||
planets with it. Board an enemy ship and take everything. Leave
|
||
an enemy ship drifting or destroy it as you wish. Board an
|
||
allied ships star base to take on supplies. Name the various
|
||
comets in the universe. Distribute attack sleds around your
|
||
sector of space to fight off invaders. Bit on ships that are up
|
||
for auction because they haven't paid taxes after being warned
|
||
on many occasions. Navigate to known star coordinates through
|
||
the on-board nav computer. Send subspace mail to all other
|
||
players (Echo Mail, AREA:MAYHEM). System Operator Maintenance
|
||
menu. Full color. Ships standings, names, and statistics.
|
||
Collect a bounty for ships that have destroyed planets. Look at
|
||
a map of the multiple universes to see where your hardware is.
|
||
Long range sensor scans. Send scout ships to the far corners of
|
||
the universe and have them either stay where they are sent or
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 14 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
return to where ever your ship is. The scout ships report on
|
||
the location of anything interesting they may find such as
|
||
other space ships and planets. Chat with the SysOp.
|
||
|
||
There is much more this game offers.
|
||
|
||
If you kill the Galactic Police star ship, they remember when
|
||
they are replaced. They will hound you and you will always be
|
||
on the run until some other ship takes them on. Leave the cops
|
||
along, however, and they'll leave you alone. Pay your taxes,
|
||
and they won't impound your ship.
|
||
|
||
The most interesting aspect of this game is the way it
|
||
considers the fact that there are many Mayhem sites. Universal
|
||
Mayhem will create what I called a 'statistics feature' message
|
||
addressed to me with a File Attach. An entry in the games
|
||
configuration file tells your mailer if you want to have my
|
||
system poll for it as Mayhem can put the message on hold for
|
||
pick up, or if you want the message to be mailed directly to
|
||
my system.
|
||
|
||
The File Attach file contains exports of space ships from your
|
||
system of all ships that have 'command' files. These are the
|
||
files that automate the ships when the player isn't active but
|
||
some other ship is.
|
||
|
||
These files reach my system where they are then mailed to all
|
||
other Mayhem sites. Each Friday, Universal Mayhem will create
|
||
an export file addressed to me (or any entry you wish that's
|
||
put in the configuration file). You can force the creation of a
|
||
statistics file as well.
|
||
|
||
When the other Mayhem sites receive the export file, it imports
|
||
the remote ships into its own data files and the ships are
|
||
marked by Mayhem as remote players. They can be fought against
|
||
as though they were local players space ships. When a remote
|
||
players ship or star base is destroyed, Mayhem will create an
|
||
AREA:MAYHEM Echo Conference message letting the remote player
|
||
know that his or her ship had been destroyed. The network
|
||
address of the system and the name of the ship that killed it
|
||
is offered so that revenge can be focused.
|
||
|
||
The future of Mayhem is clear:
|
||
|
||
o Shore leave can be peaceful or you can send down an invasion
|
||
force to take the planet away from another ship that owns it.
|
||
The battle will be fought on the planet and the star ship will
|
||
be out of reach but usable on a limited basis to re-supply. The
|
||
focus of the game will change when you are in an invasion mode.
|
||
|
||
o Boarding an enemy ship is easy because of the holes you had
|
||
to hammer through the enemy ships hull to attach a shuttle
|
||
craft. In future versions, your boarding crew will meet with
|
||
resistance. Your boarding crew will have to fight its way to
|
||
what's left of the bridge and seize control. Your crew can then
|
||
be told about what to do with the prisoners if any survive. The
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 15 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
focus of the game will change as it does during an invasion:
|
||
your ship will be out of reach as you command the boarding
|
||
crew. If need be, you can call in a strike from your ship if
|
||
the boarding battle goes against you.
|
||
|
||
o Boarding an enemy base will be much like boarding an enemy
|
||
ship. The context of the game shifts to finding your way around
|
||
the star base and locating key positions for control. Don't
|
||
take too long as the bases star ship may be on its way to
|
||
assist repel you. Usually, however, people destroy the captains
|
||
ship and then goes after its base. Of course you have the
|
||
alliances the enemy captain made to worry about.
|
||
|
||
o Board a friends base to take on supplies and then turn on its
|
||
crew for a sneaky twist. If the enemy ships captain suspects
|
||
something is up, his ship may be on the way before you turn
|
||
tails so be careful.
|
||
|
||
The MAYHEM Echo Conference discusses what changes should be
|
||
made to the game and bugs are reported. Ideas are never thrown
|
||
away and I think I can say that support for the game is
|
||
absolute. Many of the features found in todays Mayhem have been
|
||
suggestions made in the past year and this method of enhancing
|
||
the game continues.
|
||
|
||
If you are interested in being a part of Universal Mayhem, here
|
||
are some File Request file names you might be interested in:
|
||
|
||
MAYHEM20.ZIP - The entire Version 2.0 Mayhem Game. At 2400 baud
|
||
the package requires 20 minutes to download.
|
||
|
||
MAYDOC.ZIP - Just the documentation for the game. If you are
|
||
not sure you are interested in running such a complex game, you
|
||
could download just the documentation to see what the game is
|
||
about.
|
||
|
||
You can File Request at any time. If you would like, send me a
|
||
request for the file and I would be glad to send it to you on
|
||
my dime. Also, please let me know if you would like to be
|
||
included in the Mayhem echo. I POLL every Sunday, Wednesday,
|
||
and Saturday all Mayhem sites.
|
||
|
||
- - -
|
||
|
||
Universal Mayhem has never been a product that must be
|
||
registered or paid for in any way. I have distributed the game
|
||
freely with the notice that it must be likewise freely
|
||
distributed. In the past, some systems have been unsure if the
|
||
project needed support and I have returned what was sent to me
|
||
with the notice that, though I don't consider my work
|
||
valueless, I recognize the fact that all SysOps put in a great
|
||
deal of effort, time, and money to keep the Fido Network fun.
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 16 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
Because of this, I offer full support and my life to Mayhem. I
|
||
do ask that the Mayhem sites keep in touch and report any bugs
|
||
they might notice. In the next couple of years, I suspect that
|
||
the project will continue to grow is dimensions that have not
|
||
been envisioned yet.
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 17 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
John Kelly
|
||
J & M Systems BBS
|
||
3:712/625
|
||
|
||
ALL QUIET ON THE BBS FRONT
|
||
--------------------------
|
||
|
||
(Vince's article on Fidonews and submissions, especially his
|
||
reference to the fact that not everyone in the world has an
|
||
IBM-PC prompted the writing of this).
|
||
|
||
I, like the majority of other SysOps who run BBS's, did not
|
||
start out with a "Super-Charged, All-Singing, All-Dancing
|
||
IBM-PC". Rather, my entry to the world of computers was
|
||
via a Tandy Colour Computer, with a gigantic 16k of memory.
|
||
It was indeed fun, with its cassette storage system, and
|
||
program paks. Graduating initially to 64K seemed like going
|
||
from an abacus to an 80386, and the advent of disk drives for
|
||
it seemed even greater. A bit of hardware here, with the latest
|
||
mods seemed to establish the system as something that you could
|
||
really get your teeth into.. The ultimate in additions to the
|
||
system back then was a modem.
|
||
|
||
Modem communications opened a whole new world for a lot of us.
|
||
Previous views of computer and modems were that they were a
|
||
mischievous device - as outlined in films and books - that
|
||
could get the user into a lot of trouble.
|
||
|
||
I think of myself as the average SysOp, who was initially
|
||
tempted to run a BBS from the moment I logged onto my first
|
||
Bulletin Board. To do so, one needed even greater hardware on
|
||
the computer - especially if you started with a small computer
|
||
like I had. Many months were spent looking for software to run
|
||
on it, thru support magazines and other computer users. I
|
||
purchased a few packages, but they never seemed to be what I
|
||
was looking for. Then came the ultimate decision. Buy a PC and
|
||
run PC BBS software on it. The cycle started again - trying to
|
||
find the best PC based BBS software to run. We then all started
|
||
what has become known nowadays as BBS WARS.
|
||
|
||
"My BBS is a lot better than yours because it runs Doors !!"
|
||
|
||
to which the reply was
|
||
|
||
"No !!, It couldn't be. Mine talks to Fidonet !!!"
|
||
|
||
We have to all admit, we all have participated in BBS WARS to
|
||
one extent or another. Unfortunately, I think we all forgot
|
||
the little people with the little machines plodding along with
|
||
what they had, rather than taking the easy way out and going
|
||
the way of a PC. They seem blocks behind us all now. Too much
|
||
time is spent on bickering about whether one PC based BBS
|
||
software package is better than another, or whether one mailer
|
||
package is greater than another. Unnecessary flames occur even
|
||
when it comes down to what particular format our Fidonews is
|
||
compressed in. We have all lost sight of ourselves, and the
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 18 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
cooperation that we had in the start when we all set out on the
|
||
long road to computer telecommunications.
|
||
|
||
Our participation in BBS WARS, whether it be large or small,
|
||
does nothing for the BBS community at large. If we are crazy
|
||
enough to run a system, and like the majority run it out of
|
||
our own pockets, we should be sensible enough to respect the
|
||
decision made by another SysOp to what package they decide to
|
||
run on their system, and live with their decision, rather than
|
||
abuse it.
|
||
|
||
I am please to see that the Colour Computer (aka the CoCo) is
|
||
now up with the rest of us with the RiBBS software package
|
||
from Ron Bihler. Nice to see my sentimental favourite get
|
||
there. I am sure there are other sysops who have over the last
|
||
couple of years seen their sentimental favourites join the
|
||
ranks of Fidonet. If you are such a SysOp, write and tell us
|
||
all of the advancements into Fidonet that your particular
|
||
non MS-DOS machine has done. Might even put a few of us back
|
||
on the cooperative track.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 19 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
Ronald Garcia
|
||
FidoNet 1:141/775
|
||
|
||
Role-Playing Game Association Conference
|
||
|
||
The RPGA echo is a discussion of the Role Playing Game
|
||
Association, role playing games in general, gaming convention
|
||
announcements, and gaming convention reviews. Questions about the
|
||
RPGA can be asked and answered. Discussion about game systems,
|
||
game mastering, playing, and new products will take place.
|
||
Convention announcements will be made for conventions running RPGA
|
||
events as well as any other conventions having gaming. Whenever
|
||
posssible a reveiw of the previous year's convention will
|
||
accompany the announcement. Reviews will be done for all
|
||
conventions that the moderator attends and other reviews will be
|
||
encouraged. Help is also availible for those who would like to
|
||
start a convention as well as those who would like to add RPGA
|
||
events to an existing convention.
|
||
|
||
The RPGA echo originates from the Twilight Zone, node
|
||
141/775, Sysop Ron Garcia. Inquires about carrying the echo can
|
||
be addressed to Ron there. Twilight Zone can be reached directly
|
||
at (203) 775-9774. Inquires can also be addressed to Sysop Dave
|
||
Yale at A Place in the Sun, node 141/535. Right now one of the
|
||
nodes carrying the echo will have to be polled to pick it up. We
|
||
hope to be on the backbone as soon as we can show sufficient
|
||
interest.
|
||
|
||
The Moderator is Willi Burger. He has been playing role
|
||
playing games for over 12 years. He is the RPGA Regional Director
|
||
for CT, NY, NJ and is ranked as Masters level Player and
|
||
Grandmasters level Judge by the RPGA. He is also the moderator
|
||
for the NorthEast Convention Coordinators Committee and is the
|
||
Convention Coordinator for ConnCon and Falcon.
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 20 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
Democracy in Fidonet Gets Another Kick in the Ass.
|
||
By Kwityer Bychin
|
||
|
||
|
||
Hi Ho, folks! Miss me? No? Well, much to your chagrin, HERE
|
||
I BE. Back to blast! Yessiree, looks like we have something
|
||
NEW AND EXCITING to BITCH about here in Fight O'Net these
|
||
days.
|
||
|
||
Ya know, lotsa you guys and gals run around like chickens
|
||
with your butts on fire screaming about how BADLY you want
|
||
DEMOCRACY in our little totalitarian empire here. But WHAT do
|
||
you do about it? SKWATT!! (our sincere thanks to Mahatma
|
||
Ravsik for the spelling).
|
||
|
||
Ever hear the old line about "WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMAN" when
|
||
stuff happens you don't like? Did you ever DO it? No? Oh! you
|
||
didn't think it would do any good eh? Well, OF COURSE it WON'T
|
||
DO ANY GOOD, you BONEHEAD! But, should that stop you from
|
||
doing it ANYWAY? OF *COURSE* NOT!
|
||
|
||
So, what's this rambling preamble leading to? Ha! Not paying
|
||
much attention to the Snooze these days are ya!? Well listen
|
||
up Homer, because THIS week, we're going to BEAT UP ON ...
|
||
|
||
E C H O P O L !!!
|
||
|
||
Hey, have a look at the Snooze a couple or three issues ago.
|
||
In it, you'll find this "document" that according to the ZONE
|
||
1 COORDINATOR, went into effect on October 22, 1990 . This
|
||
document supposedly establishes rules and regulations for
|
||
BACKBONE ECHOMAIL TRAFFIC. This document is called the Magna
|
||
Ca... er... ECHOPOL. Yeah. And it does some neat stuff too.
|
||
|
||
You know what? It creates ANOTHER (that's right, ANOTHER)
|
||
administrative layer in Fight O'Net. The "*EC" structure.
|
||
Obviously, the current adminstrative structure can't even tie
|
||
its shoes properly, so SOMEONE decided that we need MORE
|
||
chiefs in the indian camp. I find the term "*EC Structure"
|
||
rather cumbersome, so I'll just refer to it as the "Echo
|
||
Gestapo", cuz it kinda has a ring to it you see...
|
||
|
||
See, the Echo Gestapo has some really cool powers. Network
|
||
Coordinators (you know, NCs) are guys that are supposed to
|
||
move the netmail around Fight O'Net. They ain't supposed to
|
||
read other people's mail, and they ain't supposed to care
|
||
about what's in it. Now, you'd figure that the Echo Gestapo
|
||
would be kinda like the same thing, only with echomail, right?
|
||
NICE TRY. See, the Echo Gestapo can REMOVE a moderator. They
|
||
can FORCE a conference to HAVE moderator. Not only do these
|
||
guys pass the echomail around, they get to have some CONTROL
|
||
over what goes ON IN the echos!
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 21 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
Pretty neat!
|
||
|
||
But wait, that's not even the best part. Guess what people
|
||
voted on this policy? Give up? Ok, I'll tell you... NOBODY
|
||
voted on it. Not one soul approved this thing. Oh wait, I'm
|
||
lying. One person DID approve it. GEORGE PEACE approved it.
|
||
Yep. GEORGE PEACE is the guy that decided to take this
|
||
document and make it LAW, whether YOU like it or not! He just
|
||
went and DID it.
|
||
|
||
Well, there WAS a vote on "AN ECHOPOL DOCUMENT" almost two
|
||
years ago. And rumor has it that it was approved. But THIS
|
||
ain't THAT document. But WAIT! There WILL be a vote on this
|
||
thing. Sometime in January. But are we gonna wait until its
|
||
APPROVED before it goes into effect? Nooooo!!! We're gonna
|
||
make it THE LAW OF THE LAND NOW, and vote on it *LATER*.
|
||
|
||
REAL Democratic.
|
||
|
||
Oh but there's MORE! Are you a conference moderator? Are you
|
||
a grunt sysop like the rest of us that make up 99% of the
|
||
ENTIRE network? You ARE??? Oh BOY that's TOO BAD! Because YOU
|
||
DON'T *GET* to vote on it! Nooo!! Only people with TITLES get
|
||
to vote on it! Yeah! Now we can't have the Fight O'Net rank
|
||
and file approve the rules we have to live by, now CAN WE? Of
|
||
COURSE NOT, HOMER! Because if that's the way we did things,
|
||
the Great Almightly Zone Coordinator wouldn't be able to SHOVE
|
||
stuff like this down our throats now WOULD he?? He wouldn't
|
||
have CARTE BLANCHE anymore, now WOULD he? OF *COURSE* NOT! And
|
||
we CAN'T LET *THAT* happen!!
|
||
|
||
So what to do about it? Hmmm... Good question! Hey, we gotta
|
||
do SOMETHING about it! If all you're gonna do is sit back,
|
||
whine and moan, and not get off your butt, then KWITYER
|
||
BYCHIN!! We don't need BYCHIN, we need ACTION! So, next time
|
||
you have your message editor fired up, drop 'ol Georgie boy a
|
||
netmail and tell him to PACK his ECHOPOL, and GET THE HELL
|
||
OUT. Send your netmail as often as you feel necessary to get
|
||
the point across. 1:1/0 is the place to send it.
|
||
|
||
In the meantime, do what the REST of Fight O'Net is doing.
|
||
IGNORE THE THING. Pay NO attention to it until YOU, the
|
||
*SYSOP* get to vote on the rules YOU have to live by. Maybe
|
||
the next ZC we wind up with will GIVE A SH*T about the PEOPLE
|
||
in the network, and not get all wrapped up in his TITLE.
|
||
|
||
K.B. '90
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 22 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
Bob Moravsik
|
||
Fidonet 1:269/107 aka /100
|
||
|
||
Comments, on Article, The State of the Universe
|
||
by Al Saveriano
|
||
|
||
In the 7-43 issue of Fidonews Mr. Al Saveriano commented on the
|
||
State of the universe as he preceived it. Although we "network"
|
||
together, we strongly disagree on many of the issues brought to
|
||
the surface. On the matter of Wonton soup it has been my
|
||
experience that if you reverse the order, the waiter will
|
||
understand and bring the soup first. It is a known mathematical
|
||
certainty that if you reverse any sequence twice it will revert
|
||
back to the original sequence. This well know property was
|
||
totally and obviously ommitted. Personally the rule clearly does
|
||
not apply if you change the order to Egg Drop. Dropping eggs is
|
||
just not the correct way to prepare such an gourmet dish.
|
||
|
||
I seriously question the rational and wisdom of using arbitrary
|
||
rhymes to force an i to appear before an e except after c. The
|
||
better method is to use the Wonton rule quoted above and that is
|
||
to REVERSE the order of these three letters so instead of cei one
|
||
has iec. Then add the first two but reverse the order to iecei.
|
||
This states the rule in but five letters and the interesting part
|
||
is that even if one applies the Wonton rule to the 5 letters the
|
||
rule remains the same. Iecei reversed is iecei. Maybe daughters
|
||
are similiar to sons but they must be lacking something.
|
||
|
||
To relate the Game_Boy scandal of '88 to an additive set of
|
||
numbers which increase by a power of two ignores a very important
|
||
property in that the first number quoted is simply the square
|
||
root of the number that was not quoted and conviently left out.
|
||
If one extends any theory one cannot simply take it to an
|
||
artificially created limit and then drop it assuming the human
|
||
mind will extrapolate the series. Unlike the rule above that
|
||
appears to remain static even if reversed this rule explaining
|
||
additive sets changes drastically. Thus a better and more exact
|
||
approach is to take the two digits of the year 88, divide
|
||
sequentially by 11 11/2 11/4 and 11/8 to obtain the series that
|
||
Mr. Saveriano derived by a much more elaborate process.
|
||
|
||
I would like to get some idea if there is a substantial set of
|
||
individuals who can comment on these developing areas. Only then
|
||
will the true topology of these issues be understood.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 23 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
COLUMNS
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
Henry Clark
|
||
124/6120
|
||
|
||
|
||
Preparation Comdex --
|
||
|
||
In two weeks I get my first trip to Comdex. Really it's an
|
||
excuse to play golf and gamble, veiled in 'business convention'
|
||
expense reporting. It's like doctors going to a live-nude
|
||
dancing bar and calling it "work related". I'm going to try and
|
||
select a suitably hot new personal computer while I'm there.
|
||
I'm also looking for a board manufacturer for my co-processor
|
||
project.
|
||
|
||
Exhibitor Guest Pass Honors go to Compaq, with their timely
|
||
insert in their quarterly magazine. I should win a dual 486-33
|
||
Systempro for that plug ! Well, maybe I'll just save 75 bucks.
|
||
|
||
Everyone is invited to 'Talk me through it'. Send your "Don't
|
||
forget to..." hints for this first time Comdex attendee.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Par for the Course --
|
||
|
||
Honey's going to work, and I'm going to retire for the New
|
||
Year. This assumes I get those new golf clubs for Christmas.
|
||
Well, that's the PLAN. Well, actually it may be both Birthday
|
||
and Christmas. I've had my current clubs for 17 years. This
|
||
time around I'm getting them built for my height and swing. My
|
||
sister, brother-in-law and I will play golf in Las Vegas at
|
||
Comdex. We need a fourth.
|
||
|
||
Wouldn't you know it. As soon as I badmouth US Robotics in the
|
||
Snooze, they up and send me those V.42 ROMs. And then, they
|
||
sent them to me again. And then, they don't make a difference
|
||
in ZIP file transfer speed. And to top it all off, Kevin saw
|
||
how I opened up the modem !
|
||
|
||
|
||
The TAB Key --
|
||
|
||
A new standard in keystroke conventions is emerging, it's the
|
||
Filename Completion command, and it's on your TAB key. Suppose
|
||
I want to delete a file called CONFIG.OLD in the current
|
||
directory. From DOS I enter
|
||
|
||
del co<tab> ==> is expanded to ==> del config.old
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 24 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
The complete filename is found from a quick scan of the current
|
||
directory. Professional CED ( Cove Software ) gives me that.
|
||
4DOS ( J.P. Software ) uses the F9 key, unfortunate but useful.
|
||
Suppose I'm editing a file, and I want to read in another file.
|
||
I enter the alt-r and get the filename prompt, to which I enter
|
||
xyz<tab> and the filename is found. Brief ( Solution Systems )
|
||
gives me that.
|
||
|
||
If more than one file is found to match the given criteria, CED
|
||
will rotate through them with more presses of the TAB key.
|
||
Brief will put up a little window where you can select the
|
||
specific file. The sequence *.TXT<TAB> works as expected.
|
||
|
||
I hope this standard catches on. It's extremely useful and it
|
||
didn't take long to make it a habit. You can reach for the TAB
|
||
as you reach for the ENTER key. I would like it in Binkley's
|
||
alt-s Send command. Or online, in Opus' C)ontents command.
|
||
Another round of upgrades.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Tex Macs Cooking --
|
||
|
||
As I have often thought, and recently spoke aloud to a friend
|
||
of mine, "It's not what you use, it's what you know how to
|
||
use." I was happy to barter a free round of golf for a touch
|
||
of "what, how, why" on business accounting software. He had
|
||
a nice business, and a computer, but wasn't happy with it.
|
||
|
||
Much to my surprise, his offices revealed a MAC IIfx with laser
|
||
printer and hard disk full of goodies. Not that I keep up with
|
||
Mac stuff, but I was looking at a pretty fine setup, that was
|
||
supposed to do brochure publishing, mailing lists/labels and
|
||
business accounting. The first two functions were just dandy,
|
||
but his recently fired consultant had opted for a database
|
||
package, and the attempt at CUSTOM accounting application
|
||
writing. It never flew.
|
||
|
||
Anyway, I was being paid to break in and snoop around on
|
||
somebody else's computer. I fired the machine up and showed my
|
||
buddy how to change the passwords, and remove some of the
|
||
inits. Do all Macs boot up with necked women pictures and
|
||
famous comedian quips ? I think so, yes. Actually, the best I
|
||
ever heard was the voice of Curly saying "I'm tryin' to think,
|
||
but nothin's happening" when you clicked somewhere that wasn't
|
||
clickable.
|
||
|
||
A quick four bucks on MacWorld ( PCWorld ) later, I was reading
|
||
about 31 accounting packages, and had a pretty good idea what
|
||
was needed. Remembering that chock full 80 meg drive, I took a
|
||
look at the review of tape drives, as well. Of course, the
|
||
main feature on HUGE hard disks got read. The Mac Connection (
|
||
yes, PC Connection ) was there in full 8 page ad glory, so I
|
||
figured even for a PC bigot like myself, this was not going to
|
||
be a problem. I asked him what his accountant recommended, he
|
||
said "Buy a PC."
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 25 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 26 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
Rex Rivers
|
||
FidoNet 1:291/9
|
||
|
||
About the content of FidoNews:
|
||
|
||
Freedom of speech does not necessarily imply freedom of
|
||
publication. If you ever decide to restrict the topics in
|
||
FidoNews, fine. If you decide to always publish everything,
|
||
that's even finer.
|
||
|
||
There IS one thing that I wish FidoNews didn't have, and it's
|
||
not anything that anyone ever submitted in an article. It's
|
||
those form-feed characters at the beginning of each page.
|
||
|
||
I realize that the MAKENEWS program probably inserts these
|
||
automatically for you but for me they are a real pain in the
|
||
backside. You see, I rarely print out FidoNews. I generally
|
||
view it on the computer screen and only print it out if I come
|
||
across something that I really, really want to keep.
|
||
|
||
The problem results because my system interprets a form-feed
|
||
character as a clear-screen function. This generally means that
|
||
I get to see the first two screenfuls of a page okay, but
|
||
somewhere along the third screenful everything disappears. I
|
||
imagine that I have missed quite a lot of interesting stuff
|
||
because of this.
|
||
|
||
If the MAKENEWS program could be modified to simulate form-feed
|
||
characters with an appropriate number of line-feed characters I
|
||
would be most grateful.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 27 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
LATEST VERSIONS
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
Latest Software Versions
|
||
|
||
MS-DOS Systems
|
||
--------------
|
||
|
||
Bulletin Board Software
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
DMG 2.93 Phoenix 1.3 TAG 2.5g*
|
||
Fido 12s+ QuickBBS 2.64 TBBS 2.1
|
||
Lynx 1.30 RBBS 17.3A TComm/TCommNet 3.4
|
||
Kitten 2.16 RBBSmail 17.3B* Telegard 2.5
|
||
Maximus 1.02* RemoteAccess 0.04a* TPBoard 6.1
|
||
Opus 1.13+ SLBBS 1.77* Wildcat! 2.15
|
||
PCBoard 14.5* Socrates 1.00 XBBS 1.15
|
||
|
||
Network Node List Other
|
||
Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
|
||
|
||
BinkleyTerm 2.40* EditNL 4.00 ARC 7.0*
|
||
D'Bridge 1.30 MakeNL 2.31 ARCAsim 2.30
|
||
Dutchie 2.90C ParseList 1.30 ARCmail 2.07
|
||
FrontDoor 1.99c* Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00
|
||
PRENM 1.47 SysNL 3.14* Crossnet v1.5
|
||
SEAdog 4.51b XlatList 2.90 EMM 2.02
|
||
TIMS 1.0(Mod8)* XlaxDiff 2.35 Gmail 2.05
|
||
XlaxNode 2.35 GROUP 2.16
|
||
GUS 1.30
|
||
HeadEdit 1.15
|
||
InterPCB 1.31*
|
||
LHARC 1.13
|
||
MSG 4.1
|
||
MSGED 2.00*
|
||
MSGTOSS 1.3*
|
||
PK[UN]ZIP 1.10
|
||
QM 1.0
|
||
QSORT 4.03
|
||
Sirius 1.0x
|
||
SLMAIL 1.36*
|
||
StarLink 1.01
|
||
TagMail 2.40
|
||
TCOMMail 2.2
|
||
Telemail 1.27*
|
||
TMail 1.15
|
||
TPBNetEd 3.2
|
||
TosScan 1.00
|
||
UFGATE 1.03
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 28 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
XRS 3.40
|
||
XST 2.2
|
||
ZmailQ 1.12*
|
||
|
||
|
||
OS/2 Systems
|
||
------------
|
||
|
||
Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
|
||
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
Maximus-CBCS 1.02* BinkleyTerm 2.40* Parselst 1.31
|
||
ConfMail 4.00
|
||
VP2 4.07*
|
||
oMMM 1.52
|
||
MsgEd 2.00*
|
||
LH2 0.50
|
||
PK[UN]ZIP 1.02
|
||
ARC2 6.00
|
||
|
||
|
||
Xenix/Unix
|
||
----------
|
||
|
||
BBS Software Mailers Other Utilities
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
MaximusCBCS 1.02.Unix.B0 BinkleyTerm 2.30b* Unzip 3.10
|
||
ARC 5.21
|
||
ParseLst 1.30b
|
||
ConfMail 3.31b
|
||
Ommm 1.40b
|
||
Msged 1.99b
|
||
Zoo 2.01
|
||
C-Lharc 1.00
|
||
Omail 1.00b
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Apple CP/M
|
||
----------
|
||
|
||
Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
|
||
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
Daisy v2j Daisy Mailer 0.38 Nodecomp 0.37
|
||
MsgUtil 2.5
|
||
PackUser v4
|
||
Filer v2-D
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 29 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
UNARC.COM 1.20
|
||
|
||
|
||
Macintosh
|
||
---------
|
||
|
||
Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
|
||
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
Red Ryder Host v2.1b10 Tabby 2.2 MacArc 0.04
|
||
Mansion 7.15 Copernicus 1.0d* ArcMac 1.3
|
||
WWIV (Mac) 3.0 StuffIt 1.6b1*
|
||
FBBS 0.91* TImport 1.331
|
||
Hermes 0.88* TExport 1.32
|
||
Timestamp 1.6
|
||
Tset 1.3
|
||
Import 3.2
|
||
Export 3.21
|
||
Sundial 3.2
|
||
PreStamp 3.2
|
||
OriginatorII 2.0
|
||
AreaFix 1.6
|
||
Mantissa 3.21
|
||
Zenith 1.5
|
||
UNZIP 1.02b
|
||
|
||
Amiga
|
||
-----
|
||
|
||
Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
|
||
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
Paragon 2.07+ BinkleyTerm 1.00 AmigArc 0.23
|
||
TrapDoor 1.50* AReceipt 1.5*
|
||
WelMat 0.42 booz 1.01
|
||
ConfMail 1.10
|
||
ChameleonEdit 0.10
|
||
ElectricHerald1.66*
|
||
Lharc 1.21
|
||
MessageFilter 1.52*
|
||
oMMM 1.49b
|
||
ParseLst 1.30
|
||
PkAX 1.00
|
||
PK[UN]ZIP 1.01
|
||
PolyxAmy 2.02*
|
||
RMB 1.30
|
||
TrapList 1.12*
|
||
UNzip 0.86
|
||
Yuck! 1.61*
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 30 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
Zoo 2.01
|
||
|
||
Atari ST
|
||
--------
|
||
|
||
Bulletin Board Software Network Mailer Other Utilities
|
||
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
FIDOdoor/ST 1.5c* BinkleyTerm 2.40* ConfMail 1.00
|
||
Pandora BBS 2.41c The BOX 1.20 ParseList 1.30
|
||
QuickBBS/ST 0.40 ARC 6.02
|
||
GS Point 0.61 FiFo 2.0b*
|
||
LHARC 0.60
|
||
Lharc 1.13
|
||
LED ST 0.10*
|
||
BYE 0.25*
|
||
PKUNZIP 1.10
|
||
MSGED 1.96S
|
||
SRENUM 6.2
|
||
Trenum 0.10
|
||
OMMM 1.40
|
||
|
||
|
||
Archimedes
|
||
----------
|
||
|
||
BBS Software Mailers Utilities
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
ARCbbs 1.44* BinkleyTerm 2.03* Unzip 2.1TH
|
||
ARC 1.03
|
||
!Spark 2.00d*
|
||
|
||
ParseLst 1.30
|
||
BatchPacker 1.00*
|
||
|
||
|
||
+ Netmail capable (does not require additional mailer software)
|
||
* Recently changed
|
||
|
||
Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by
|
||
reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list
|
||
all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 31 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
NOTICES
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
The Interrupt Stack
|
||
|
||
|
||
4 Nov 1990
|
||
Area Code 214 fragments. Part will become area code 903.
|
||
|
||
6 Nov 1990
|
||
First anniversary of Van Diepen Automatiseert, 2:500/28
|
||
|
||
13 Nov 1990
|
||
Third anniversary of Fidonet in Austria (zone 2, region 31).
|
||
|
||
14 Nov 1990
|
||
Marco Maccaferri's 21rd Birthday. Send greetings to him at
|
||
2:332/16.0
|
||
|
||
16 Nov 1990
|
||
100% Democratically elected administration takes over the
|
||
coordination structure in Zone-4 Latin America
|
||
|
||
1 Jan 1991
|
||
Implementation of 7% Goods and Services Tax in Canada. Contact
|
||
Joe Lindstrom at 1:134/55 for a more colorful description.
|
||
|
||
16 Feb 1991
|
||
Fifth anniversary of the introduction of Echomail, by Jeff Rush.
|
||
|
||
31 Mar 1991
|
||
Jim Grubs (W8GRT) was issued his first ham radio license forty
|
||
years ago today. His first station was made from an ARC-5
|
||
"Command Set" removed from a B-17 bomber.
|
||
|
||
12 May 1991
|
||
Fourth anniversary of FidoNet operations in Latin America and
|
||
second anniversary of the creation of Zone-4.
|
||
|
||
8 Sep 1991
|
||
25th anniversary of first airing of Star Trek on NBC!
|
||
|
||
7 Oct 1991
|
||
Area code 415 fragments. Alameda and Contra Costa Counties
|
||
will begin using area code 510. This includes Oakland,
|
||
Concord, Berkeley and Hayward. San Francisco, San Mateo,
|
||
Marin, parts of Santa Clara County, and the San Francisco Bay
|
||
Islands will retain area code 415.
|
||
|
||
1 Feb 1992
|
||
FidoNews 7-44 Page 32 29 Oct 1990
|
||
|
||
|
||
Area code 213 fragments. Western, coastal, southern and
|
||
eastern portions of Los Angeles County will begin using area
|
||
code 310. This includes Los Angeles International Airport,
|
||
West Los Angeles, San Pedro and Whittier. Downtown Los
|
||
Angeles and surrounding communities (such as Hollywood and
|
||
Montebello) will retain area code 213.
|
||
|
||
1 Dec 1993
|
||
Tenth anniversary of Fido Version 1 release.
|
||
|
||
5 Jun 1997
|
||
David Dodell's 40th Birthday
|
||
|
||
|
||
If you have something which you would like to see on this
|
||
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
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